Means employed for locating shipments



Mar. 20, 1923. 1,448,973 A. c. M DONALD MEANS EMPLOYED FDR LOCATI'NG SHIPMENTS Filed Aug. 50, 1920 e9 5 57.2

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VIA 1.61442? *NGTE -Ary railroad employee. orany AgenT of Shipper. a1 ary one oflheslafions named wl ll delach The proper cardal lhal slarl'on. Carefully fill in The blank on reverse side affix postage and mailalonceas addressed. Sign nameand address plainly. A Fee of Q.. will be paid for each card correclly and prqperly handled.

Shipper 116.

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Detach rhwrantmfiegjm "g I U neiachthlscavdai m m g g manhthismzd0tdb aZv/mwd m l:

A DetanhthscadaiMWT A tT/Zfflonalzl INVENTOR Patented Mar. 20, 1923.

ALLEN C. MCDONALD, OF SAN ANGELO, TEXAS.

MEANS EMPLOYED FOR LOGATIZNG SHIPMENTS.

Application filed August 30, 1920. SeriaI No. M796.

To all Hi/IOWA it may concern Be it known that I, ALLEN U. MoDoNALo, residing at San Angelo, in the county of? Tom (XI'GGII and State of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Means Employed for Locating Shipments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a system or method of tracing or locating shipments h rail and has for an objict the provision of means whereby a shipper may keep track of a shipment from its point of origin to its destination.

To this end the invention provides a plurality of cards which are adapted to be arranged in groups and which contain indicia, such as the name and address of the shipper, the origin, route and destination and character of the shipment, together with instructions for persons along the route of shipment to return the proper card to the shipper, after first indicating thereon the date of arrival and thus provide a record of the shipmrnt from its time of departure until. it reaches its destination.

The invention further includes the following novel features and details of construw tion, to he hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings Figure .l is a face view of one side of the cards in grouped formation after they have been filled in and indicating the number of the car and its contents, the origin, route and destination of the shipment etc.

Figure 2 is a view of the reverse face of the cards in grouped formation.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference character 10 indicates a card upon one face of which is imprinted its character, such as Eureka Tracer No.- attached to. Below this and arranged in the order given are the Words, Car, Contents, Origin, Destination and Via, blank spaces being provided opposite each of these words for a purpose hereinafter apparent. At the lower end of the card is a. line for the name of the shipper and the date shipped, together with a line for the insertion of the name of the station along the route of shipment, the latter being opposite end legend Detach this card at."

Upon the opposite face of the card is a blank space for the name and address of the shipper, the date and hour of the arrival of the shipment and the signature and address of a person remailing the card, together with space for necessary. or desired correspondence.

These cards are made in different sizes and colors and are furnished the shipper, he makes them up in groups having the smallest card on top and each successive card being of a different color and having one end projecting from beneath the card above. Each group containing the names of the stations along the line ofshipment, inserting thereon the name and number of the car, its contents. the point from which shipment occurs, the destination and the route or names of the. roads handling the shipment and the point of connection between the roads. The point of connection between roads is adapted to he inserted at the bottom of the card so that it is readable on each card in group formation. For example, the card shown hasbeen filled in for a shipment upon car No. 10470 containing wheat, the origin of the shipment being St. Louis, Mo., and the destination Galveston, Texas, the shipment going from St. Louis over the C. & A. road to Kansas City, thence over the Mo. Pacific to \Vichita, Kansas, thence over the K. C. M. a 0. road to San Angelo, Texas, and thence over the G. C. & S. F. to Galveston, its destination. The group for this shipment con tains a card for each of the points named, namely St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, San Angelo and Galveston, with the cards arranged in the order named. Imprinted upon the face of the card is a note-Any railroad employee, or any agent of shipper. at any one of the stations named will detach the proper card at that station. Carefully fill in the blank on the reverse face. afiix postage and mail at once as addressed. Sign name and address plainly. A fee of -dollars will be paid for each card correctly and properly handled. Below this the name of the shipper and date of shipment is inserted in the proper place and the point at which the card is to be detached is also inserted. The group of cards are then secured at a convenient place, for example. to he tacked to the outside of the car containing the shipment. When the car leaves St. Louis, the first card is detached. At Kansas City the second card is detached and thereon along the route of shipment. Each card is filled in upon the reverse face showing the date and hour of the arrival of the shipment together With the signature and address of the person filling in said date. The card is then mailed to the shipper who has previously inserted in the space proridcd his name and address. The cards are preferably scored along the line indicated a! I 1 so that the are readily detachable.

The cards are furnished the shippers rlilti'lf. and the latter make up their groups at the point of shipment, using any numher ol' ('al'ds as the distance. route and nulnher of reports desired. require. so that the shipper may he kept informed of the progress and loration of the shipment during transit.

lt understood that the Word shipper wherever used shall he understood to include in its meaning any one to whom the cards in each group may he addressed, such as Monsignor. rrmsignee or any railroad rornpany; and that the Word shipment shall he understood to include in its mean ine any empty railroad car.

The invention is susceptible of various hanges in its form, proportions and minor details of construction and the right is herein reserved to make such changes as prop crl r tall within the svopeot the apprrolwl r-laun.

llaving descrihcd the invention What is claimed is )leans for locating rail shipments consisting; oi a nurnher of cards of different sizes arranged in group formation and having) the smallest rard on top and each successive card having one end pioiecting heneath the above card and each group lacing adapted to accon'lpany the shipment each of said cards lJPIUlD upon one face thereof suitahle llltlltlil providing a complete record of said shipment including the card numher var llllll'il)0l coi'itents. origin. destination. route from said origin to said destination. ship per, date shipped, instructions to detach thrrard at points along, the route, said points being readable on each card and on the reverse fare thereof suitahle indicia for mailing and on one end thereof indicia including the date and hour of arrival of shipnrent, remarks, signature and address of the wilder of said cards.

in testimony whereof T atfix my signature.

ALLEN C. MGDONALD. 

